Goodbye for now

All good things must come to an end they say, and that also means my wonderful journey here in Vancouver must come to an end… And that end is here.

My life changing journey started 7 months ago at the airport in Amsterdam. It was going to be the first time for me flying alone and living on my own and boy I was scared. I remember crying and being really sad to leave my friends and family even telling them that I was not sure if I could do this. I’m really happy and proud that I can tell the Mandy of 7 months ago that she had nothing to worry about and that a beautiful journey was waiting for her.

I call it a journey and not a destination or simply a stay since I have been through so much. I have learned a lot about myself and who I am all with the help of INTERNeX and without them I would not be the person I am today. 

It all started 2 days after I arrived here in Vancouver with the amazing Rocky Mountains trip. It was so amazing to see the beautiful nature that Canada has to offer and the beautiful blue lakes. Not only the nature was amazing but all the people that I met were wonderful.

But that was not it, as a PR-Coordinator for INTERNeX I had the opportunity to travel to Whistler, Victoria, Salt Spring Island and my biggest dream Seattle. I even had the opportunity to take a trip to Los Angeles, a city I have always dreamed of visiting. We also went to amazing events like Halloween, New Year’s Eve, the Canucks games and of course all the nice and fun PuB NiGHTS. I even celebrated Thanksgiving for the first time in my life and went Black Friday Shopping in Seattle.

But for me it does not matter how many places I visited or how many things I did, the most important thing for me is that I was able to do that with all of you! Without any of you, my journey here in Canada would not have been the same and I want to thank you for that from the bottom of my heart.

Now that it is only days away from saying goodbye I am having mixed feelings about leaving. I am really looking forward to seeing my friends and family again and to hug my sweet Labrador dog. I am looking forward to tasting my favorite Dutch dishes again but I know that my life back home will never be the same again since a piece of my heart will always stay here in Vancouver and another piece will stay with the people I have met here.
Again I wanted to thank every single one of you that have been there for me and have made my stay here unforgettable. I would also like to thank Tim and Simon for even giving me this opportunity since without them I would not have been able to experience all of these things.
For anyone reading this who is doubting whether to go away from home for such a long time I can only give you one advice…. Just do it! Trust me it will only make your life much more richer with all the life lessons you take with you when being on your own.

This is not a goodbye but a see you later! I am looking forward to seeing some of you in Sweden later this year and for the rest, we will meet each other again somewhere in the world!

~ Mandy

INTERNeX International Exchange
International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 6N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

“I will never be completely home again” – Tess

I left the Netherlands the 11th of Januari 2017. A date I was freaking out, and a date that was going to change my life forever. I didn’t realize this really around that time, but I do now, and I am truly grateful that I had the opportunity to come to Vancouver to flip my life around.

A few days before that exact date I threw a party, to say goodbye to everybody. My friends gave me a book then, full of stories about our friendships and me. A book I was going to take a look at a lot during my time in Vancouver. A book that gave me two guidelines for my time here, and maybe for the rest of my life:

“ Fill your life with adventures, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.”

“ Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it”

And although my suitcases are packed full of new clothes since shopping is just cheaper for me here, I do really think life is all about adventures and taking risks. Doubting? Just do it! This international experience has only done me good and it would not have been the same without Internex and what Internex brought me.

I learned so much in the office and it is all because the people there are always very supportive and gave me the opportunity to reach goals I didn’t even dream of yet. Together with the team I organised many PuB NiGHTS, weekly events and monthly trips for you! Some of them were really good, and some of them were just great! The success of our events is all because of you, our candidates, who always make it even more eventful for us. I really want to thank all of you for always being there, showing up and even do stuff together aside of Internex events. In the end that is all we want, for you to make friendships and to have an awesome time here together.

Me myself made friends for life here as well, friends who made my time a blast here! I can’t believe what activities and weird stuff I all did with you. Like the time Nicola and me thought it was a great idea to go snowboarding while being hungover. I laughed so much that day and in the end I was going down the hill circling around, which was pretty cool since I’ve never done that before. I also think we went on like 3 goodbye dinners, since we were not that good in leaving each other! I’m sure I will see this girl very soon again.

One of my other best memories is a surfing trip I made with Iris and Merle to Tofino.Catching those waves all together on a lovely Sunday morning was one of the best feelings I ever experienced, and I am happy they were part of that. Or just always having lovely Miriam and Sebastian around, who were here almost my entire stay. I adored the time I spend with you! And our lovely Mexican girl Blanca, who made everybody tostada’s on Danielles birthday party. It is really those little things I appreciate the most and you all contributed making my adventure so remarkable.

“Havo stories to tell, not stuff to show”

I had the honour to catch al our candidates stories and experiences through my project: the Candidate Exposé, which you might already have seen popping up on this blog. I am thankful that I was able to build this project and to execute it, and to always read your kind words about the work Internex is doing. Our stories together are captured in a few yearbooks, which you can find on the tables at Internex. I hope the book and the blogs make people decide to come to Canada for an experience similar like ours, since I am convinced it will be really good for everybody to have an international experience.
Vancouver and mostly you stole a piece of my heart. It’ s so hard for me to put my experiences on paper since it is just beyond words. I have a hard time saying goodbye to all of you, and unfortunately I already had to say goodbye a lot of times over the past months, which is also a part of this adventure. I do know though it is not going to be a goodbye for a long time. I will see some of you soon, and some later, but I am convinced our journeys will cross again some time. Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it, so always go for it and get the best out of everything! I am curious what life is going to bring you, and me, because what the hell are we going to do when we are back home?

I am sure everything will fall into place very soon and I can look forward to my next adventure, meet even more people and create new experiences, but I always have a big one to look back to.

I will never be completely home again, because part of my heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price I paid for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place. Thank you lovely candidates, Internex, Vancouver and Canada for stealing a piece of my heart.

– Tess

INTERNeX International Exchange
International Village,
Suite 2077, 2079 – 88 West Pender Street
Vancouver, Canada -V6B 6N9-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

INTERNeX Canada: Picture of the week!

left to right: Rie, Ilse, Sandra, Dylan, Daniel

This photo was taken during our pub night at the Railway Club! To me, it represents the start of something new…like new friendships, new people, and new places. And before that night, I have never been to the Railway Club before but I really thought it was special. It had a different feel to it than most pubs I know…it felt more personal. So I guess, it was a new experience as well. But I am so happy I got to know and welcome more new members to our group 🙂

Cheers,

Flora

INTERNeX International Exchange
Suite 200 – 211 Columbia Street
Vancouver BC -V6A 2R5-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Phone: +1 (604) 662 8149
Email: pr@internexcanada.com

 

INTERNeX Canada: The PR Team!

In just a couple of short days, we will be saying goodbye to one-third of the Public Relations team – Marianne.

I am going to be really sad as she sits beside me and feeds me chocolate! (Ha, you might think that I am joking, but I am not.) Of course, I will miss everything else about her like the way she inspires me to be a more outgoing and spontaneous person.

The PR team’s job at INTERNeX is to plan events for the candidates and take care of the social media channels. In planning events, our goal is to basically make sure our candidates have the best possible time while they complete their internship or other jobs during their stay in Vancouver.

The experience of going abroad and gaining international experience is so much more than just working and completing the report that your school requires.  It is about the people you meet and the things you do outside of work that makes your time away from home memorable and unique.

This is why we have so many events going on every week, such as the weekly pub nights where we try to find new pubs to try out every week, weekly activities such as our paintball event on December 9^th and our bigger trips such as our Seattle trip on December 16^th. We want you to have a great time and have a great time ourselves as well!

Coming to these events is the best way to meet new people and form new friendships because we are all in the same situation which is being new to this foreign country.  One of the candidates, who is also leaving soon, was reflecting upon his experience in Vancouver the other day. He said that one of the best things about being part of INTERNeX was that it was easy to meet people, whom he wouldn’t have otherwise, through attending our events regularly. He will definitely be one of the people I miss the most and now I will have a place to stay when I travel in Germany!

So, I encourage all of you to come out and join us for all the exciting stuff we have planned for you in December and the upcoming months! Since we plan these events specifically for you, please do not hesitate to tell us what you want to do and where you want to go and we will make it happen! Don’t worry we are not scary, I swear.

Cheers,

Queenie

INTERNeX International Exchange
Suite 200 – 211 Columbia Street
Vancouver BC -V6A 2R5-
Web: http://www.internexcanada.com
Phone: +1 (604) 662 8149
Email: pr@internexcanada.com